


Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Reclamation

by NikkiDeez



Category: Tomb Raider & Related Fandoms, Tomb Raider (Video Games), Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:22:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29022666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikkiDeez/pseuds/NikkiDeez
Summary: It’s been sixth months since the eclipse, six months since Lara had saved the sun. Lara has since left Paititi, and has returned to her home, to Croft Manor, hoping to start living ‘her best life.’ Gone is the pain that had come with her father’s loss, as well as the guilt. But despite her newfound strength and sense of purpose, nightmares still plague Lara… as well as an odd sense of loss. Her friends have moved on, having essentially abandoned her… and Lara can’t help but wonder if she was indeed doomed to live her life alone. She especially misses her dearest and closest friend, Jonah Maiava. Suddenly Lara's solitary life is interrupted by a newfound threat; Trinity is back, and it has a new leader; Jacqueline Natla. And just like that, Lara finds herself chasing yet another mystery, this time with two other adventurers in tow; the mysterious Drake brothers…
Relationships: Lara Croft & Jonah Maiava, Lara Croft/Jonah Maiava, Nathan Drake & Samuel Drake, Nathan Drake/Elena Fisher
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Reclamation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lara Croft is back home, in Croft Manor. Happy and healed, right? Wrong. Since leaving Paititi, Lara has been having nightmares, nightmares that literally wake her up at night. Struggling to forget the guilt brought on by past sins, as well as trying to ignore her inner feelings, Lara then receives a letter, a letter that sets her on a new path towards reclaiming her peace, as well as finding what had been missing all along...

The nightmares always started the same… with voices from the past.

_“Lara, your father’s gone… And picking up where he left off won’t bring him back… I see so much of him in you…”_

_“It seems that anybody close to you has a pretty low survival rate.”_  
_“Better keep your distance, then.”_

_“And lose everything else? No way… I like this world… It’s not perfect, but everything I love now is in it…”_

The voices. They were so familiar, some soothing, others evocative, and all… painful. They tumbled through Lara’s head, haunting her. At first, she just heard them. They were faint at first, just minor whispers in the dark. But then the voices grew louder, and Lara remembered… They echoed through her mind, faint at first, then becoming louder. Faces started to appear, faces she knew… faces of the people she had come to treasure, faces of people she came to love, faces of the people who always ended up leaving her. First, it was Sam… then it was Roth… then Alex… then Ana… then Jacob… and finally Jonah. Always Jonah…

_“Lara, your father’s gone… And picking up where he left off won’t bring him back… I see so much of him in you…”_  
_“It seems that anybody close to you has a pretty low survival rate.”_  
_“Better keep your distance, then.”_  
_“And lose everything else? No way… I like this world… It’s not perfect, but everything I love now is in it…”_

Lara twisted in her sleep, fighting against the memories, against the faces and voices. She didn’t want to hear them, didn’t want to remember… She strained, her heart starting to pound, knowing what was coming, her body starting to tremble and shake as the voices and faces blurred… their faces twisting… changing… Sam crying from behind a plastic screen in a mental hospital. Roth’s still features, glowing from the fire of his funeral pyre. Alex’s smiling at her one last time, just before he killed himself. Ana’s pale tortured face was covered in blood from the bullet hole that decorated her chest. Jacob’s eyes on her as he turned to dust. And Jonah’s face, tight with pain, his dark eyes peering into hers… as Konstantin stabbed him… over, and over again, Lara unable to escape the sound of Jonah’s pained grunt, Lara also unable to look away, watching the knife as it stabbed him, over and over again… Blood… it covered her hands… his blood. And there was no way to wash her hands clean. He was dying. And it was all her fault.

_“And lose everything else? No way… I like this world… It’s not perfect, but everything I love now is in it…”_

_Blood… on her hands… her fault… her fault… HER FAULT! HE’S DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!_

_**“JONAH!”**_ Lara screamed as she sat up, her hand reaching out… only to grasp air. And just like that, Lara realized that she had been dreaming. _Again_. Always the same damn dream. Always the same ending. 

For a minute Lara simply sat there, struggling to get her bearings. She was in her bedroom. The room was dark. Dawn was hours away. Sweat peppered her forehead, and her heart was racing. Lara inhaled a long breath, and reached up with a trembling hand to brush aside a strand of sweaty light brown hair, her hazel brown eyes searching for her iPhone, Lara reaching for it, her hands still shaking as she picked it up, blinking when she saw the wallpaper. It was a picture of her and Jonah in Paititi, standing on the bluff that had overlooked the lost city. Etzli had taken it, the boy king proving to be quite curious when it came to modern technology. Lara smiled, remembering the moment. Jonah had been teasing her, putting bunny ears behind her head, and making jokes to get her to smile for the photo. Lara inhaled sharply and gave herself a little shake, her fingers going to the last text message Jonah had sent her. 

It’d been two days ago. Jonah had apparently left Peru, and had returned to Hawaii, having heard that his grandmother had been in the hospital, having suffered a bad fall. Jonah had sent Lara a picture of him standing with a man who looked like a younger version of him, complete with mohawk and tattoos, the young man apparently being Jonah’s younger cousin, Eli. Lara smiled at the photo and tried her best to ignore the pang she felt in her chest. God, she missed him. Missed him terribly, more with every passing day. But he wasn’t there, was he? No. He was in Hawaii, with Aby… and probably better off…

Lara grit her teeth and put the phone aside. _**It's better this way**_ , she told herself. He was safe now. Without her.

* * *

  
Eventually, Lara was able to drift back to sleep. It wasn’t a restful sleep, to say the least, but she at least managed to get some more hours in before her alarm went off at eight. Silencing the blaring sound of church bells, Lara grumbled as she sat up, still feeling groggy. Another night of nightmares. Lara frowned, knowing what her therapist would say about them. Repressed trauma. Post-traumatic stress, coupled with high functioning anxiety and depression. Ugh. It’d probably land her on her therapist’s couch every day for a month. 

Lara made a face, knowing that she was making light of something serious. The nightmares were a sign that she wasn’t well. Something was eating at her, and she wasn’t dealing with it. Jonah always said that she had the bad habit of putting her needs onto the ‘back burner,’ as he liked to call it, the kiwi always joking about the ‘good old days’ of when he was a sous-chef. And just like that, with just that small memory, Lara felt them; tears. Jonah. God, she missed him. Terribly. But he wasn’t there, was he? No. And it was better that way. This way he was safe. It was just like how Reyes had said. Anybody that came close to her had a pretty low survival rate, right? Right. 

_“Get up,”_ Lara growled, and with that, Lara push aside the bed sheets that clung to her frame and got out of bed, Lara already knowing that Winston would be walking in soon with her morning coffee. Although Lara still drank tea regularly, Lara had grown used to drinking coffee in the morning while in South America, having gone so far as to even invest in a small coffee plantation just a mile away from Kuwaq Yaku. Taking a minute to brush her teeth and wash her face, Lara was slipping on her robe when there was a knock at her bedroom door, and Lara looked up in time to see Winston poke his head through the door.

“Good morning Lady Croft. Your coffee and correspondence.” The elderly butler commented cheerfully.

Lara smiled. “Thank you,” she murmured, walking over to the small table and armchair she had placed next to the window, Winston placing both there, Lara nodding her thanks as she sat down.

“Will that be all, Lady Croft?”

Lara reached for the letters, rifling through them quietly. “Are there any appointments today?” she asked, taking a sip from her coffee mug.

“Lord and Lady Chesterfield await your response to their invitation to High Tea, you have a Zoom meeting with Professor Tanaka, at ten thirty, and the gardener would like to speak to you about the garden. Apparently, there is a problem with rabbits again.”

Lara smiled, amused. “When is dear old Henry going to realize that I don’t mind having rabbits in the gardens?” she murmured, mostly to herself. Then Lara frowned, her eyes scanning one of the letters. It stood out from the rest, mainly since the addresses were typed with a typewriter. Most people have come to the point of having everything computerized, including their postage, making the use of typewriters practically obsolete. Lara also didn’t recognize the name of the sender. Jacqueline Natla? And she also used the old name of the city of Kolkata. _Odd_. “Do you know this sender, Winston? Natla? Has she written before?” 

Winston frowned, his wizened, wrinkled face tightening in thought. “Yes, miss. I believe she once wrote to your father, Lord Croft.”

Lara frowned. She’d thought she’d read all of her father's letters. Curious, Lara ripped open the envelope, which contained a short, handwritten letter, where Natla introduced herself as a researcher who was working on a dig in India and was formally inviting Lara to join her. “What’d she want then?” Lara asked.

“I believe Miss Natla knew your father through his time at Oxford. She expressed that she was… concerned.” Winston replied, his voice tightening in pain.

Lara looked up at that, not liking Winston’s tone. “Concerned? In what regard?”

Winston’s face soured, the ancient butler pursing his lips as if he had sucked on a lemon. “In his academic difficulties, Lady Croft. Miss Natla apparently had been in attendance at one of Lord Croft’s presentations. She had also been one of the researchers that had implied to the press that Lord Croft was... unwell.” 

Lara blinked, shocked. She knew that there had been various experts that had criticized her father to the press, but she did remember the press ever naming their sources, the press always stating that it was ‘anonymous.’ To know that this woman, Natla, had been the one that was responsible for her father’s downfall… and to see that she was inviting her to join her on a dig now, years later? It made her feel almost sick to her stomach. “I want a dossier on Natla on my desk by this time tomorrow, Winston,” Lara said. “Anything you can find, please. Papers. Publications. Anything.”

Winston gave her a small bow, and his eyes had a hard edge of determination in them that belayed his age. Winston knew Lara better than most. He’d been her caretaker for as long as she could remember. And she knew how fiercely he wished to protect the family name. “Yes miss. Will that be all?” 

“Yes, I’ll be going to the study shortly, Winston. Thank you.” Lara replied, her lips set into a firm line. This Natla wanted to meet her, did she? Well, then she’d best be ready.


End file.
